The Catholic Bishop of Aleppo, which has been a battleground since 2012, has spoken out about the horrific conditions his community faces.
The city has been described as "Syria's Stalingrad" in a reference to one of the most destructive battles of the Second World War. While the Free Syrian Army has been accused of indiscriminate shelling of goverment-held areas, President Assad's Syrian Army – to which the Christian community is generally loyal – has killed thousands of people with barrel bombs dropped from helicopters and other weapons targeting civilians.
Bishop Georges Abou Khazen told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need: "The people are really very, very afraid because of this bombing. They just hope to see the end of it. Just the other day, a student, a little boy of about 13 years old asked me 'Why do I have to study? I am going to die' – so you understand how terrible things are here."
Bishop Khazen blamed rebel fighters for the lack of utilities in the city, saying most of the city had had no electricity for five months and now had no water.
"I don't know who – perhaps it was the jihadist groups – but they cut the electricity and the water too. The whole population of Aleppo is affected by the lack of water and electricity."
He continued: "For the last 20 days we have been under bombardment, almost daily bombing, that is destroying many houses, many apartments, and causing many, many deaths. Every day, there are four or five deaths – some days as many as 10 are killed. And all this is the work of jihadist groups."
Bishop Khazen added: "Nearly all our churches are damaged and some of them are completely destroyed. A few days ago the Armenian Protestant church was badly damaged, and five days ago our Roman Catholic church was even damaged, along with the pastoral centre."
He said at least 70 per cent of the Christian population had left the city since the fighting began.
Russian airstrikes are believed to have tipped the balance in favour of President Assad in the battle for Aleppo, which is on the point of being encircled by the Syrian army aided by foreign troops.
Of the ceasefire negotiated by Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry, the bishop said: "We hope the ceasefire will work. But there are many, many groups affiliated with Al Quae'da or ISIS, and we think they will not observe this ceasefire. Russia and others are pushing for negotiations, and many of the Syrians want this negotiation to succeed. But, as you know, we have thousands upon thousands of foreign fighters in the country."
He said despite this, Christian communities in Aleppo still have hope. "We have hope – hope for us is like faith and charity – we cannot live without hope. God is almighty, God is our father, and remember in the Old Testament how he saved a remnant of the people – this is what we hope for too."
